Right on schedule. That's how Joshua Harris, 76ers managing owner, views the franchise he purchased in 2011 on the eve of the 2012-13 season. "When I purchased the team, I said that my goal was to bring a championship team to the city of Philadelphia," Harris said via phone Monday night. "We made some changes and some upgrades in the offseason, and I think we are on track to do that. Obviously this isn't going to happen overnight. But I like the direction we're headed. " Harris extended coach Doug Collins' contract through next season.

Comcast-Spectacor reached an agreement Wednesday to sell the 76ers to a group of investors led by New York billionaire Joshua Harris. The deal, first reported as being in the works just over a month ago, is pending approval by the NBA's board of governors. No difficulties are expected regarding the NBA's approval of the sale. Although terms of the agreement were not disclosed, the deal is for 100 percent of the Sixers for approximately $280 million, possibly slightly more.

Maybe we've found Joshua Harris' weakness: He doesn't have much of an outside shot. He's competitive, aggressive, strong going to the basket, solid defending, but perhaps can be allowed a little room on the perimeter. Harris, head of the investment group whose ownership of the 76ers is pending approval by the NBA board of governors, seems like a man with few weaknesses: He's a billionaire, a respected businessman, a family man, and an athlete - not necessarily listed in order of importance.

THE 76ERS' NEW practice facility on the Camden waterfront will be be "biggest, largest and best practice facility in the history of the NBA," Sixers CEO Scott O'Neil told a packed room at the Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey in Voorhees, N.J., yesterday morning. O'Neil was there talking to business leaders to outline construction of the facility, which is due to be completed in August 2016. The project, announced last June, comes with $82 million in tax credits from the state and will allow the Sixers to move practice out of the Philadelphia College of Orthopedic of Medicine on City Avenue.

Bloomberg reported Thursday that the 76ers are likely to be sold to a group led by Joshua Harris in the "next few business days. " According to people familiar with the negotiations, Harris, the director at Apollo Global Management LLC, will pay about $280 million for the team. Bloomberg said it granted anonymity to two sources because they weren't authorized to discuss the sale publicly. Comcast-Spectacor, the holding company that owns the Sixers, confirmed a month ago that it was exploring a sale.

The 76ers are set to announce the acquisition of an NBA Developmental League team that will play in Delaware. Majority owner Joshua Harris, speaking for the first time since accepting the resignation of former coach Doug Collins, will be joined at a news conference on Saturday on the campus of the University of Delaware along with NBA Development League president Dan Reed to make the announcement. University president Patrick T. Harker will also be in attendance. Harris and Reed will also be joined by U.S. Sens.

An NBA source has told the Daily News that the 76ers have hired Jeff Capel Sr. as an assistant coach. Capel, who will turn 58 in January, was the head coach at Old Dominion from 1994 to 2001 and at North Carolina A&T (1993-94) and Fayetteville State (1989-1993). Capel is the father of Jeff Capel Jr., who starred for Duke from 1993-97. The younger Capel was a teammate of Chris Collins, son of Sixers coach Doug Collins. The hiring won't be made official until the NBA Board of Governors approves the sale of the Sixers to a group headed by Joshua Harris.

The sale of the 76ers from Comcast-Spectacor and Ed Snider to an investment group led by billionaire Joshua Harris was completed yesterday, pending NBA approval and closing procedures. Here are snapshots of the four members of the group who have been publicly identified: JOSHUA HARRIS The 46-year-old billionaire and graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School is a senior managing director at Apollo Global Management, a New York-based investment firm that went public in April, has assets valued at $70 million and specializes in leveraged buyouts.

IT APPEARS all the t's have been crossed and all the i's dotted, and now there will be a formal announcement that the 76ers sale has been completed. Last week, the NBA Board of Governors approved the sale of the team by Comcast-Spectacor to a group led by billionaire Joshua Harris, co-founder of Apollo Global Management. Harris grew up in the Philadelphia area and graduated from the Wharton School of Business. Today at the Palestra, the group will be introduced to the media at an 11:30 a.m. news conference.

New Sixers ownership has ever-dyspepsic Philly fans hoping for all sorts of changes - including axing Hip-Hop. Even if a league website calls him "the coolest mascot in the NBA. " This morning, WIP (94 FM) host Angelo Cataldi, appearing on CBS3, held up a bowl to illustrate what the big-eared bunny's next role should be: "Rabbit stew!" he bellowed. "Lame and stale, like the mascot version of planking," wrote Comcast SportsNet's John Gonzalez, declaring even no replacement would be an improvement.

THE 76ERS' NEW practice facility on the Camden waterfront will be be "biggest, largest and best practice facility in the history of the NBA," Sixers CEO Scott O'Neil told a packed room at the Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey in Voorhees, N.J., yesterday morning. O'Neil was there talking to business leaders to outline construction of the facility, which is due to be completed in August 2016. The project, announced last June, comes with $82 million in tax credits from the state and will allow the Sixers to move practice out of the Philadelphia College of Orthopedic of Medicine on City Avenue.

ORLANDO - Justin Holiday is a superb actor if he's disappointed with the 76ers for trading his brother, Jrue. The Sixers swingman was in a jovial mood after Thursday morning's practice at Central Florida for the Orlando Pro Summer League. He even joked that Thursday evening's practice would be canceled for the Fourth of July. (It wasn't.) The 6-foot-6, 185-pounder said Jrue, an NBA all-star point guard, is "doing well" after being traded to the New Orleans Pelicans on draft night.

NEW YORK - 76ers majority owner Joshua Harris, a guy well-acquainted with numbers and probability, knew the odds of moving up Tuesday night in the NBA draft lottery were long. He was right. The Sixers stayed put at No. 11 after the drawing. The Cleveland Cavaliers, who had the second-worst record in the league, beat the odds and will have the first selection in the June 27 draft. "I came here with a small probability of being super happy and a small probability of being super sad," said Harris, a hedge-fund billionaire.

Now that 76ers majority owner Joshua Harris has gotten his man, Sam Hinkie, the team's new general manager can begin a quest for his own: a new coach. Hinkie was introduced Tuesday as the team's new GM and president of basketball operations. Taking over for Tony DiLeo, who lasted as GM less than one year, Hinkie talked about the search for a coach to replace Doug Collins. He also talked about Andrew Bynum and about his philosophy for repairing the Sixers after their disastrous 34-48 season.

The abrupt hiring of Houston Rockets assistant general manager Sam Hinkie as 76ers president of basketball operations and general manager, coupled with the swift kick the organization gave to Tony DiLeo on Friday, shows that owner Joshua Harris is going full-bore in doing away with one culture and giving birth to another. Harris has made his billions by propping up distressed companies, restoring them to value, and, in some cases, increasing their value. But in less than one year, the 76ers regressed badly after being one victory away from the Eastern Conference finals.

If we can be sure of one thing about Sam Hinkie, it's that we can't be sure about anything. The man who will run the Sixers is said to be as smart as a master of business administration degree from Stanford suggests. He is known to be in the vanguard of using advanced metrics to evaluate players and make decisions. It is tempting from that sketchy information to conclude that Hinkie's hiring should drive the final stake through the Andrew Bynum Error. No matter how Hinkie crunches the numbers on Bynum, the only one that really matters is zero.

While he's most remembered in these parts for being part of the 76ers' worst trade of the 1990s, Utah Jazz assistant coach Jeff Hornacek has emerged as a potential coach after two years as an assistant, not just in Philadelphia but in other places as well. Traded from Phoenix to Philadelphia along with Andrew Lang and Tim Perry on June 17, 1992 in exchange for Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley, Hornacek, the shooting coach in Utah for three seasons before being promoted to an assistant's role, is one of the possible replacements for departed coach Doug Collins.

The 76ers will begin interviewing candidates next week for their vacant head coaching position, and a picture is taking shape as to which direction the Sixers may go. The Sixers have identified a group of assistant coaches, all 50 years old or younger, as their primary targets. The group includes Indiana Pacers assistant Brian Shaw and Golden State Warriors assistant Mike Malone, both of whom are still coaching in the NBA playoffs. According to a report from Yahoo Sports late Wednesday, the Sixers have gained permission to interview Malone and Utah Jazz assistant coach and former 76er Jeff Hornacek.

The 76ers are set to announce the acquisition of an NBA Developmental League team that will play in Delaware. Majority owner Joshua Harris, speaking for the first time since accepting the resignation of former coach Doug Collins, will be joined at a news conference on Saturday on the campus of the University of Delaware along with NBA Development League president Dan Reed to make the announcement. University president Patrick T. Harker will also be in attendance. Harris and Reed will also be joined by U.S. Sens.

Is it time for the 76ers to turn the coaching reins over to someone with no head coaching experience? That is one of the many options the team's front office must seriously consider as it moves to hire its eighth coach to lead the Sixers since 2003. Eddie Jordan (27-55) and Doug Collins (110-120) have led the Sixers to a 137-175 record (.439) in the last four seasons, and both took over the Sixers having had experience as head coaches. Brian Shaw, 47, the longtime assistant coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and currently an associate head coach on South Jersey native Frank Vogel's Indiana Pacers staff, might be exactly what the Sixers need if they are not interested in hiring another retread.